Iran on Monday publicly executed a second man convicted in connection with protests that have rocked the country for nearly three months, despite outcry over its use of the death penalty against people involved in the protest movement.
Majidreza Rahnavard was sentenced to death for stabbing to death two members of the security forces and injuring four others, said Mizan online, the organ of judicial authority. He was hanged in public in the city of Mashhad (northeast), according to the same source.
This is the second execution linked to the protest, but the first in public, after the hanging Thursday of Mohsen Shekari (23), convicted of attacking and injuring a paramilitary, which had sparked outrage in the ‘foreign.
Mizan online released footage of Rahnavard’s execution, apparently taken before dawn, showing a man with his hands tied behind his back hanging from a rope attached to a crane.
“The public execution of a young protester, 23 days after his arrest, is another serious crime committed by the leaders of the Islamic Republic and a significant escalation in the level of violence against protesters,” Mahmood told AFP. Amiry-Moghaddam, director of the Oslo-based NGO Iran Human Rights (IHR).
“Majidreza Rahnavard was sentenced to death on the basis of a confession obtained under duress, after grossly unfair proceedings and a show trial”, he denounced.
It is the first public execution amid protests sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who died after she was arrested by vice police for violating the Republic’s strict dress code. Islamic.
Since its beginnings in 1979, the Islamic Republic has been regularly rocked by bouts of fever. But this crisis is unprecedented in its duration, its dispersion across the provinces, the participation of different ethnic groups and social classes and the direct calls for an end to the regime.
At least 458 people have been killed in the crackdown on protests, according to a latest IHR report, and at least 14,000 have been arrested according to the UN.
New European sanctions
In Iran, the Supreme National Security Council indicated in early December that “more than 200 people”, including civilians and security forces, had been killed since September 16. A general of the Revolutionary Guards (the ideological army) had reported more than 300 dead.
Rahnavard was a young fitness enthusiast and wrestling fan who had won competitions, according to reports circulating before his execution.
The online media 1500tasvir claims that his family were not informed of the execution until after the hanging, posting photos of a final meeting between Majidreza Rahnavard and his mother and stating that they were unaware that her son was about to be executed .
Iranian justice claims to have handed down death sentences against 11 people in connection with the “riots”, but activists claim that a dozen other people risk the death penalty.
“No due process. Mock trials. This is how they want to stop protests nationwide,” said Omid Memarian, Iran analyst at Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN).
Rahnavard was arrested on November 19 as he tried to flee the country, according to mizan. According to unconfirmed reports, he was 23 years old.
Several Western countries, as well as the European Union and the UN, condemned the execution last week of Mohsen Shekari, with Ottawa and London announcing sanctions targeting Iranian figures.
On Monday, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, announced that the European Union (EU) would approve “a set of very, very tough sanctions” against Tehran, targeting, according to Berlin, those responsible for the executions and repression.
Human rights activists and NGOs have called for strong measures, going as far as breaking diplomatic relations with Iran.
Ahead of the announcement of the second execution, Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi urged authorities on Instagram to end the executions: “Killing and executing helpless and oppressed youths will only bring you more anger and more hatred.” .